Hasselblad responds to Lunar criticisms

Responding to the swift and negative reaction to its just-announced Lunar mirrorless camera, Hasselblad's business development manager, Luca Alessandrini, forcefully defended the venerable camera maker's partnership with Sony in an interview with the British Journal of Photography. Alessandrini stressed that, 'This [the Lunar] is not a NEX-7 camera, just because we are buying components from Sony'. He makes a pointed distinction between the Hasselblad-Sony partnership and the 'rebranding' arrangement between Leica and Panasonic. Alessandrini also says that the decision to use an unmodified Sony sensor for the first Lunar camera doesn't preclude the company from making sensor modifications for future models.

In seeking to explain the company's long-term strategy and product design decisions, Alessandrini says that unlike other makers who have distinct looks for different camera classes, 'What we're doing is designing three cameras – a compact camera, a DSLR and a mirrorless – with the same style'. And as for criticism generated by the Lunar's €5000 price, he adds, '...we're not robbing people by making a huge profit on the camera. Our profit margin is the same as everyone else's; we're just using more expensive materials.'

You can read the entire interview at the British Journal of Photography's web site.

Comments

Regardless of how superior the materials and construction of the Hasselblad Lunar may be, what is clear is that the company now has a full-blown public-relations disaster on its hands. Hasselblad's most astonishing failure -- so far -- is that the company seems not to have had the slightest clue in anticipating this sort of repudiation. That suggests the company is woefully out of touch with market reality and perception. If the materials from the which the camera are so expensive and labor so involved, this was never hinted at in the press materials.

It is a good thought that to make a high-quality mirrorless camera receives a supply of components from Sony.However, it will be Contax that a user demands.Do not you want to use the Ziess lens with a mirrorless camera like RX and RTS III?

We used to make some top notch Medium format camera, we even send some to space. We know how to make some good stuff. But unfortunately in order to manufacture a modern camera today you only need Lenses, LCDs, EVFs, Sensors and some electronics. Unfortunately we don't make any of this stuff. So we buy some Sony and integrate some complex holding devise with rounded spinning knobs and engrave a big letter H on the body. C'mon people, give us some slack. Hey, we trying, We need to make money over here, like every one else, stop picking on us.

It really doesn't bother me if Hassleblad want to dress a NEX-7 in bling for very wealthy people. However, it's a bit of an insult to people's intelligence to try and convince people that this is anything but a NEX-7 inside a body redesign. The specifications and the control layout seem virtually identical to the NEX, and only appear to be cosmetically different. If Hassleblad were just using Sony parts to design their own camera, it seems odd that they ended up with something so similar to the NEX-7 in specification and control layout. The control layout of the "Lunar" is more similar to the NEX-7 than it is to the NEX-6.

"keeping the same values that made our company famous. For example, that involves using the best material available..."Gold and gems?!Either he was lying, or Vitor Hasselblad did not use the best materials at his time.

Ok, so there seems to be some confusion in management's mind as to how much Hassy technical input there was to the prototypes (mock-ups) on display that seem to be internally identified as NEX-7s.That's all fine, and the NEX-7 seems a technically competent basis for a mirrorless that will have the Hasselblad name attached to it.

But my first (and strong) reaction to the Lunar wasn't so much about the technical details, just the plain fugliness of the camera. My first impression was of a NEX covered in modelling clay.I didn't notice Mr. Alessandrini addressing that issue, but rather getting defensive about things that don't seem to be fundamental problems.

Hassleblad used to make expensive yet (just) affordable high grade film cameras whose appearance stood for something - Zeiss lenses and mechanical and electronic excellence. There's nothing wrong with an NEX7 and aesthetically it's a fine camera as it was designed by Sony - it doesn't need a makeover of any kind, especially this kind.

If Hassleblad really want to make an outstanding smaller camera, how about introducing a digital version of the SWC? The old SWC was their smallest most portable 120 camera and had one of the all-time best ultra wide angle lenses in the fixed 38mm Biogon. They're still sought after second hand for landscape and architectural work. That might get some reverence......

Boy, we can be a pretty judgmental bunch here at DPReview (I'm as guilty as anyone, I suppose). We condemn cameras we don't like, condemn the companies that make them, and condemn those who would actually choose such cameras. Can't we at least wait until a given camera is manufactured, reviewed, and most importantly -- personally handled -- before we start building the gallows for those who would dare create something that doesn't meet the approval of the hundreds of Magnum and Pulitzer Prize winning photographers who post on this site? After all, Hasselblad is one of the few companies that can say their cameras are built well enough to be used by astronauts in space -- what could they possibly know about making cameras?

I reckon poor old Victor Hasselblad must be spinning in his grave right now. I mean, precisely just HOW much 'substance abuse' had these guys been indulging in before they settled upon such a spectacularly ill-conceived abortion ? I've seen some pretty appalling design cock-ups over the years (the rear of the original Ssangyong Rodius MPV immediately springs to mind....check it out if you don't believe me !), but I'm afraid this is right up there with the top contenders. In fact just thinking about this camera has made me feel distinctly queasy....now wherever did I put that sick-bag....?

Hey, put all the Sony components you want in that thing. I just think it looks like they hired a yacht designer without telling him it's a camera.

A bad yacht designer.

That said, I don't doubt that plenty of people with money to burn will make sure that people see them taking pictures in public with it. That, in my opinion, is the only explanation for this, besides what seems to be genuinely strange management.

Note to Hasselblad: the backlash is real, but you won't be selling that thing to this audience anyway.

I am interested HD4D-40 ferrari models from Hasselblad, the camera is great model for Mirrorles camera. And if the Display 4 " antiglare display and touch screen, Full Frame and Hybrid sensor it become a very good Mirrorles Camera If possible, use the Android system to make ease of use, custome camera.

The real deal was to sell NEX-7 the way it is with Hassie logo on it, put a wonderful lens on it and sell it at same price as Sony. That is the way to make business. If you buy a chinese lens, you don't care if it is marked Samyang or Rokinon, you buy it for what it is and what it does. A NEX-7 form Hassie with different rubber grip colors and glue that sticks on the grip, a rubber that you don not lose after a month would be a bargain. Sony's NEX-7 grip rubber sucks.

who cares, it is the content of a comment that counts. Errors are possible for anyone. Like FTW's comments, he has some nasty jokes sometimes and likes to hit the nail on the head, even if it hurts sometimes. But, who likes truth anyway. I know him personally too, he's a high aged jewish phillosopher and I have met him a few times during trips. We live in the same country, me in the north and he is in the south of the Philippines. Samyang is indeed Korean, dslr magic is chinese, and they make a few huge lenses too. I wait the new e-mounts coming out from them. I ordered a NEX-6 yesterday.

Reminds me of a kit car conversion. Buy a Pontiac Fiero then add a fiberglass overlay and put on Ferrari badges. Everyone knows its not a Ferrari and you look silly. You still have a Pontiac Fiero engine still and not a Ferrari engine. Hassie... Start from the ground up please. Forget ergonomics. Is the Leica ergonomic? No. What it does have is something that will last, great craftsmanship and awesome glass. Yes they outsource sensors but nobody cares that much.

First, it is a Nex with different skins, not only the NEX sensor, and this story of future modification on the sensor is bluff, the same bluff than Nikon's own made Sony sensors. So, stop fooling people with that yuppie luxury objects made for suckers. Maybe we look dumb, but appearances can miss-lead you in error. The appearance of this Hassy gadgets doesn't lies, anyone with knowledge in technology knows what's about. Hassy never has build any digital part of it's cameras or modified any sensor. The mid format sensors where Kodak, same as in Pro One cameras or any Mamyia back. Here, Sony is the maker and Hassy sews the dress and makes the pricing for it, nothing else.

You are selling digital cameras. Electronics. A computer essentially. Your prices ought to be coming down year after year. You want some of this? You need a sub-$10K MF camera with more MPs than the D800. Sub-8k if you can manage it.

I feel sorry for Hasselblad, for Hasselblad fans, for Hasselblad emplyoees, I even feel sorry for mr. Allesandrini.

Who would have thought ?That from the marriage between Hasselblad and Fuji, it would be Fuji that came out with innovative ideas and high quality in serious photography products and having complete control of both bodies and lenses, and it would be Hasselblad that would take a total nose-dive having to resort to pimping up another manufactureres products ?

Why do Hasselblad need to apologise for there decisions? People and press are all jumping as if they are going to get a free product and don't like it. Wait until it's out. Most of you readers never owned a Hasselblad and never will. So take your comments elsewhere.I admire bold companies that innovate and take the 'left' side for a change.

I was so looking forward to the possibility of the function and street practicality of a digital x pan. I love the x pan simplicity, why do companies try and reinvent the wheel...and fail so often? Hello Leica M...

"it is genuine plastic grown on our own trees. The plastic beans are hand picked and carried by mule to our processing plant where they are carefully selected and roasted to create a smooth, creamy plastic"

OMG...... I can't breathe.....

As for Hasselblad.... I predict bankruptcy within 24 months - really sad; an icon of uncompromising quality has just sold their soul.

I don't understand why it's such a bad thing that it's an NEX 7 inside. So what? Developing cameras today is much harder than it was back in the film days. Back in the film days, you made the external body, then loaded it with film. These days, it's a lot more complicated. Manufacturers can't just made an empty body anymore. There's a lot of complicated, expensive things that go inside it now. So it makes perfect sense for a company like Hasselblad to use pre-existing innards, which allows them to put their own spin on everything that surrounds those innards.

The irony is that if Hassy hadn't used Sony's innards, and had come to the market with electronics that weren't as good, then they would be blasted for that! So better to use established components, then build around that.

And if they want to go after the boutique upscale market, let them! So what if there are people who will want a camera to match their Bentley?

"Manufacturers can't just made an empty body anymore. There's a lot of complicated, expensive things that go inside it now." Except it's clear that manufacturers rely on subcontracted, albeit customized, sub-assemblies and construction. This, I believe, is why the models come so fast and furious. Even look at menu screens. The Samsung ones are much like the Panasonic ones. The LCD menu screen shots from the new Pentax SLRs look a lot to me like what I saw on a Nikon D5100. And so on.

1) Not A DSLR2) Not a compact of any of the current types.3) Too heavy and standoutish for a street camera.4) Not a Pro camera.

When NASA commissioned H'Bad for a camera that would work in space it was the best camera for the job. To even mention NASA with this camera that exists for no other purpose than to pose, is an insult to the brand name.

This is clearly not a camera aimed at any segment of the *conventional* market. It's a boutique camera, like a boutique handbag costing thousands of dollars. To compare it to anything else in the market is simply pointless.

To answer T3 I love boutique products, look at all the hand made guitars, but if one of the great Luther's took a cheap Chinese guitar and covered it in leather and sold it as a boutique guitar then I would be shocked.

WOW! Congratulations to Hasselblad! The first camera in the world in the new Pointless and Shoot category, using their very unique Paint and Shroud materials. Oh! We're not Puerile and Stupid. I think this camera will be on sale in their luxurious Hasselblad Boutique at Avenue des Champs-Élysées early next year.

The current incarnation of Hasselblad bears little resemblance to the superb, elegant, understated cameras that built its fame and professional following. Only a hollowed-out shell of that fine brand would excrete products like these. At least when Leica seeks to reap its red-dot tax in restyled Panasonic cameras, the design isn't a hyberbolic moon shot of weirdness and bling. Unobtainium may be expensive, but does it have to be fugly too?

BJN, what's interesting was my mother was talking with this young professional years ago and she saw a Hasselblad sitting on his desk. She said that I had one too and he said that he bought it because he thought it looked nice. He never intended to use it. So, you're right, the old 500 series was a work of art.

I find this kind of amazing. For a company rep to actually come out in defense of products means that the market reaction was wildly negative. Because if the reaction was even mostly negative, it's always best from a PR perspective to not recognize the criticisms in public and instead internally decide what course to take.

This camera reminds me of the Aston Martin Cygnet, which is basically a Scion IQ dressed up in wood and carbon fiber. If they were launching this with a whole new line of Hasselblad lenses, it would make sense - but seems they're not, so its pointless.

The attempt to justify the price as due to material costs is surely a lie: a small chunk of burl wood or carbon fiber wrap does not come close to adding all those thousands of dollars to the price of a NEX7.

But the promise of all three cameras having "the same style" means that we have a woody RX100 and a woody A99 coming.

But if the profits extracted from *people with too much money*(TM) goes into at last getting a 21st century (CMOS with on-sensor ADC) sensor for its MF cameras, all will be forgiven.